Anyone who enjoys listening to live English music in Chennai has had the identical outdated nagging criticism for years. A 2012 article in The Rolling Stones of retired electro-rock band Adam & The Fish Eyed Poets says, “The thing is there is only one venue in Chennai [Star Rock]. It’s very hard for standalone pubs to function here, so the music scene is quite dead.”
Musicians have tried tirelessly to foster a ‘new band performing at the local pub’ tradition however have solely had a handful of venues like Palomar’s Spotted Deer and Savera’s Bay 146, which have opened their doorways to performers. Let’s not even start talking of the acoustics.
An attention-grabbing phenomenon has nonetheless emerged to fill the hole lately. Aficionados operating cafes and proudly owning non-public alcoves have begun metamorphosing their areas to develop into patrons of the humanities. The Alwarpet cafe Vinyl and Brew and the travelling Sofar gigs have develop into alternate areas to take pleasure in listening to new bands and a wide range of attention-grabbing music. More importantly, each these areas appear to be demanding undivided consideration and participation from an invested viewers. This has led to exhibits being wildly entertaining. One may see musicians performing in their component, almost speaking with their devices.
The viewers tunes in
| Photo Credit:
SHANTANU KRISHNAN
The newest to affix this checklist of intimate music areas delivering certifiably nice performances is The Nook. Located above Kawai Piano on Anna Salai, this new venue, long-established out of an outdated workplace area, was began by 4 musicians in June. Azan Sherif, Vishnu Reddy, Kashyap Jaishankar and Sahib Singh, met as college students of Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music in Pondicherry in 2013. After having performed with completely different bands for a few years and discovering their very own niches, the staff of 4 determined that it was time to create an area of their very own to hearken to different thrilling artistes.
The first official gig of The Nook on July 16 offered out days after they posted the announcement. Their Neo-Soul Night with their in-house band ‘Room Service’ encompassing the 4 musicians, and different performers together with Ananya Gope, Rahul Vanamali, Pranav RV, Wesley Crispus and Gooth, delivered clean and strange covers of immediately’s most attention-grabbing artistes. The set checklist included a jazz model of the pumpy Return of the Mack by British R&B singer Mark Morrison. Besides this, there have been covers of phenomena like Erykah Badu and Childish Gambino. It is protected to say that the 50-member viewers didn’t cease grooving. Think NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert however barely greater.
Drummer Vishnu Reddy
| Photo Credit:
SHANTANU KRISHNAN
“Chennai lacks a space made by musicians for musicians. We have played the usual circuit including the bars. The other spectrum is Museum Theatre. Independent musicians may not have the ability to rent and fill up a 1,000-seater hall. That’s when spaces like The Nook come in. We have no PA systems or mixers. You really get to see what a musician is doing,” says Sahib, co-founder of The Nook and band chief of Jatayu.
Sahib says that one thing magical arises when a musician is really comfy in a efficiency area. Here, one can contact, really feel and visualise the sound. It is why they’re planning to open the area up for a number of attention-grabbing performances each month. Their subsequent live performance, scheduled to be on August 17, shall be by the Tamil Jazz Collective. Led by vocalist and composer Harini Iyer, the efficiency shall be a retelling of Tamil music set to jazz notes.
Wesley and Sahib, enjoying at the primary gig.
| Photo Credit:
SHANTANU KRISHNAN
“All of us from the band listen to different kinds of music — jazz, rhythm and blues, neo-soul, hiphop. We are looking to discuss any experimental music and seeing how the space can fit the vibe. We also want to open the space up for events and to record our own music-related content,” Sahib says.
To comply with particulars of performances at The Nook, comply with @the_nook_chennai.
